…vow to expose, join force with security agencies to deal with promoters

…as civil society group commends Gov Mbah over new security architecture

Residents across Enugu State have issued stern warning to the leader of the autopilot criminal gang seeking to destabilize the South-east zone, Simon Ekpa, and his sponsors, to steer clear and count the state out of their sit-at-home madness, insisting Enugu people would do everything possible to liaise with the security agencies to expose and deal ruthlessly with promoters of sit-at-home in the state.

This was even as a popular civil society group, Security and Accountability Watch (SAW) commended the state governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, over new security architecture in the state such as the “ongoing security camera installation, procurement of new high-powered security vehicles, and modern tracking system”, saying it would further guarantee safety in the state.

In an interview session conducted over the weekend across the 17 local government areas of the state by a group of journalists based in the state, majority of the residents expressed anger at Ekpa’s deliberate attempt to bring the region on its knees.

They warned that they would no longer fold their arms and watch some criminals acting under the guise of Biafra agitation take them for a ride, threatening to fish out those promoting the illegal declaration.

Residents of Abakpa Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state said they had already disregarded the illegal declaration of sit-at-home issued by the Finland-based fugitive having been assured by the governor and members of the security operatives.

“We are not part of the sit-at-home and we will not take part in it. Sit-at-home is a self-inflicted madness that could only be declared and obeyed by psychopaths,” Mr Eze Kennedy, a resident of Abakpa, told newsmen.

While dismissing the declaration made by Ekpa, an Nsukka trader, Nelson Agbo, said they held the Nsukka traders’ meeting with security agencies who assured them to go about their normal businesses; that the governor had already directed that maximum security be provided.

He said: “You know, since the governor cancelled sit-at-home in the state, security has improved very well. We are now able to go out and carry on our trade on Monday and every other day. So, we are no longer interested in Ekpa’s madness. We are even working with security personnel to identify and hand over those criminals to the law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

In Agbani road, Independence Layout, Coal Camp, New Haven, GRA, Trans Ekulu, Uwani, the stories remain the same as people living there threatened to deal with anyone or group promoting sit-at-home in the area.

“These hoodlums called Ekpa and his sponsors cannot be going to work every day in Finland, Europe, Turkey, America and other parts of the world, and be telling us living in the South-East when to go out and when to sit-at-home.

“We have resolved amongst ourselves to fish out those miscreants and teach them some lessons that they would not forget all through their lives,” Mr. Charles Okike, a chemist at Amobia Street, Uwani, fumed.

Addressing journalist at Gariki on Sunday, Mr. Ogbuene Udoka, who depends on daily income to earn a living through cart pushing, said anyone still talking about sit-at-home should have his brain examined as Enugu people had already consigned that to their ugly past.

“It is funny whenever that criminal called Ekpa talks about sit-at-home in the East. We have suffered that menace as a collective ignorance in the past. We almost died of hunger sitting at home, and he and his criminal gang have never provided alternative. We are waiting for them because we are ready to resist them with our last breath,” Ogbuene added.

While commending Mbah for the ongoing security reform and the new security installation in the state, the Director of SAW, Engineer Nduka Mpu, said the government had shown sustained commitment in its responsibility by flushing out threats in the state.

Nduka said this on Monday while monitoring the level of economic activities in state, noting that “We are satisfied with the level of movements and other human activities so far.

“From our assessment, the economic activities show that our people in the state defied Ekpa and his herds of criminal bedfellows.

“Even with the security presence at almost every corner of the state, you will be motivated to come out. What we are seeing today has reinforced our confidence in the state government,” he said.